Lost in the Woods
by DarkWriter00
Summary: Marianne, an ordinary young woman had the worst luck when a careless and speedy driver hit her, making her slip into a coma. Now she's stuck in another world, or possible dimension with her one other person in this madness. Squall Leonhart. R&R!
1. The Arrival and Bogus Discovery

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy 8 characters. They belong to Squaresoft. I can't really afford to be sued anyway. 

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Small introduction: This just started out as a freestyle writing exercise, but I never got bored with this idea. So it's a fic. Be sure to look forward to reading my other two FF8 related stories! "Trapped in FF8! What the Hell?!" and "Marianne and Squall (and Ifrit and Diablos and…)"

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Lost in the Woods

Chapter 1: The Arrival and Bogus Discovery…

That day… This one day in Marianne's life, she'll never forget…

It was a typical Saturday at Wordman Used Books, in St. Leonard, Maryland. A peaceful town. Also, in Marianne's view, boring. There was just nothing exciting to do much. It was fun every now and then to catch up with friends at theatre plays or events. It was a lot of fun shopping, but it just wasn't enough. 

She shrugged it off and decided to head off to the Mobile fastop, diagonally right across the street where she worked. She saw the cars of various colors and styles go driving by. She checked all around before crossing the street. 

All her life, she was never hit by a car. She thought of it as a lucky thing, and expected the same. But not today… The incident happened when she was absolutely _sure_ that no cars were coming her way, she began to walk fast across the street. A squeal of tires turned around the corner. A gray, and old fashioned car was driving by past the speed limit. Marianne was in the middle of the road when she was trying to run back to safety. The car wouldn't slow down, and gained fast. 

Too little too late. The gray car hit her on the side head on. The front of the automobile was dented, as Marianne fell sideways on the street as the car sped past over her. She was too hurt to get up. The whole left side of her body had been bruised, especially on the head. Slowly, and sleepily, Marianne's vision darkened into unconsciousness.

Moments later, she was half awake, half asleep. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak, or even scream. Marianne was out of it. She seemed to be hearing strange distant voices… She seemed to understand them…

"We're trying all we can, and it's up to Marianne to come out of her coma. It may take several days…"

A female voice sobbed in the background. So soft, she could barely hear it. _I'm…in a coma?_ Marianne had thought to herself. She was sort of awake, but mostly out of it. 

She stirred in what seemed to be a long peaceful nap. Her head of naturally curly brown hair rested among the dried up leaves. There wasn't any pain from her side. Her blue eyes came into focus. 

She stood up at five feet by three inches tall. Her weight she was never sure about, since every now and then she'd go on a diet. But one thing was for sure. She was just in between skinny and fat. Marianne rubbed over her eyes, with her smooth, and cold fingers. She looked all around. "Where am I?" Marianne wondered out loud, feeling confused. "I'm supposed to be at work… Not here…" 

Then, the mental light bulb had went on inside her intelligent brain. "I must be in my backyard or something…" she said to herself, the only one there. "But how far?" She began to walk to her right, making the dead leaves crunch and the sticks snap under her blue blending with white zip up sneakers. She noticed that she was in one of her white T-shirts, with a pair of comfortable Old Navy blue jeans. The air was okay, maybe a little bit nippy. There was no breeze. The sun was shining. There was nothing but dead trees, leaves and air. Nature acting like it died all over.

She kept walking, trying to find some houses or any sign of civilization. Marianne was too spooked inside to even try to call out to anyone. _Just keep walking…_, she mentally told herself as she obeyed her own command. She looked down at the soiled ground. There were patches of green grass here and there, but this environment was practically dead. There wasn't a bug trying to harass her. Not a mosquito out for blood. Not a crazy gnat trying to get in her hair. Not even one flower blossomed. 

After a long time of walking, she figured that she was so lost in this dead forest. Not a sign of water anywhere. She felt vulnerable. Would she starve to death from lack of food and water? Wasn't anyone out there besides herself? How did she end up here? A million questions appeared in her mind all at once, but there was no answer. She hated that. She was beginning to feel frustrated. "Where the hell am I?" she asked to basically no one. "This is…wrong. I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be at work. Not trapped here!" Marianne half scolded herself, trying to keep it together. Was she dreaming? Only one way to find out. She pinched herself on the arm, hard. "Ow…" she hissed in pain. "Okay, I'm not dreaming!" _Keep it together. You can't be too far away from civilization_, she tried to assure herself. She couldn't be losing her mind at a time like this. There was only one option, and that was to keep walking.

It felt like hours on end. She was hungry and thirsty. Fatigue swept over her like a disease. She felt a little tired, and her feet were a little sore from walking, but Marianne knew she couldn't stop…

A few yards away from Marianne, there was a lake. This lake was small, and grass had grown around it. A few species of flowers were present, but there was no insect to drink the nectar from them. No insect to gather the pollen from. It seemed that this environment was on the brink of extinction, barely surviving. 

A too gentle of a breeze blew every now and then. The wind was whispering. Whispering so quietly that the human form could not hear it. Glaring down at his reflection, the young male gazed, with intense icy blue eyes. If looks could affect, his cold hard stare would have the water frozen on this small pond. His hair was sort of long, a slightly lighter shade of brown than the dead leaves on the ground, bangs dangling on the side of his head. A small and diagonal dark red line lived on his face, from the forehead, diagonally stopping at the entrance to his right cheek. 

The water hadn't rippled in the wind, as if he were gazing into a mirror on the ground. Thin shaped body. It almost looked as if he were anorexic, but Squall Leonhart wasn't that kind of guy. He laid his weapon on the ground beside him. A sword for the most part, that sort of curved upward. Near the handle looked like the trigger and bullet storage of a handgun. The gunblade, as he saw called it. The Revolver.

Squall's gunblade laid down in peace on the fresh green grass as he bent over to use both hands to scoop up some of water from the cool and fresh pond. He drank quietly. He found this environment to be strange, and lifeless. Squall didn't have a clue as to what, how, or why he came here. What he clearly remembered was about to confront a rival. The tall, similar built young man with short blond hair, a similar scar to Squall's. "Seifer…" he said out loud, remembering his menacing smirk. 

He was ready to go into battle with that person, when suddenly, he just ended up in this place. He couldn't explain this at all. Well, after a few refreshing handfuls of water, Squall got up from his knees, brushing off the dirt of his black jeans. Customized belts were worn around his waist, little metal stars decorating them. And a small metal belt around his left pant leg. His leather gloves, that matched his coat, were in the coat pockets. A white fur collar kept his neck warm. The dark brown leather was unzipped, showing the lion headed necklace. Its mouth opened and teeth were bared. The eye was a ruby on the pendant part of the necklace.

With that, he strapped the gunblade in sheath around his waist, and rested his hands on his hips. 

After being used to the silence of this strange forest, he wasn't expecting the soft, distant crunching of someone stepping over dead leaves. He suddenly realized he wasn't so alone anymore. Professionally, he took out his weapon and walked quietly, and hid behind a nearby tree, which was leafless as all the others in the wooded area he was present in…

Marianne walked on further, always in the same direction. She thought it over again. A car had hit her. She was knocked out of it fast, and there must have been a doctor's voice telling of her condition. _A coma…_ she silently recalled. She also tried to pinpoint the crying, but her hearing was all muddy then.

Hearing the crunching of dead leaves getting a little louder, Squall prepared himself, clasping both hands lightly but firm around the gunblade's handle.

She looked ahead while walking. Water! She kept walking towards the pond, edging closer and closer. The leaf crunching sounded louder and closer. He was prepared. Marianne walked closer and closer, almost to the pond when a stranger jumped out from behind a tree, making her jump a few steps backwards. Marianne's eyes went wide in surprise and utter shock as this guy held onto his blade, poised and ready for a possible attack. 

She took a good glance at him. His face looked very familiar, out of one of her video games. Final Fantasy 8. She saw that same scar. The facial features. The hair, the outfit, and last but not least, his intense stare. _…Squall?_

Squall stood down and lowered his gunblade. This girl had no intention of harming him. She froze in her trance, as if turned to stone. Her eyes were watering as she slowly walked forward. "Oh God…" the girl said in a small voice as Squall didn't exactly welcome her with open arms…. 


	2. A Nasty Confrontation, Out of Desperatio...

Chapter 2: A Nasty Confrontation, Out of Desperation

His stare went through her, a little less tense. "Who are you?" he asked the female stranger, who was a few inches shorter, and had a little more bulk than he did. 

Marianne took a shaky breath as she whispered that peculiar young man's name. "Squall…?" Now his eyes had grown wide in surprise. _Whoa… How does she know my name?_ Squall asked himself in shock, after jolting back a step.

They both had the same reaction. The shocked feelings were being passed and forth. "I asked for your name…" Squall told her firmly, his blue eyes of steel gazing into her like an eagle toward a mouse. Marianne let out a gasp as she managed to say with her shaky voice, "M-Marianne… A-Are you Squall Leonhart?" "How do you know my name?" Squall asked suspiciously. Marianne took a breath, through her choked up voice. "It's c-complicated. Hang on a second…" she said in a tiny squeak.

A tear came down her face, showing signs of fear to one of her all time favorite video game characters. "Can you help me please?" she pleaded. "I'm lost and I don't know where I am." Squall looked at her blankly. "I'm lost too," he admitted, and seemed a little concerned about why she was crying. "…Are you alright?" Marianne had to sit down on this one, in the soft grass by the pond. She suddenly wasn't so desperate of food and water now. "This is too weird…" she whispered, oblivious of Squall's presence for a second. Squall knelt down in front of her, raising an eyebrow. He wanted to know what the hell was going on. "What is it?" Marianne looked at him and wiped some tears from her face. "Alright, okay…" she sobbed, trying to gain self control, her blue greenish eyes watering in fear. "I was at work, see? And I was about to cross the street for a refreshment when some bastard…" she paused, hugging her knees. "I'm…confused." Squall said, trying to figure out what she was trying to tell him. "Some bastard was racing this gray car past the speed limit and hit me…" Marianne sobbed, recalling what happened. Trying to figure out this mess.

"You don't seem hurt to me," Squall observed. "I know, and I can't really explain, but…" Marianne began, and tried to think. "Before I came here, I was a little awake from unconsciousness, but I couldn't move and my eyes were closed… And I think it was a doctor that said I was in a coma, and I heard someone crying… I don't know who… And I woke up, standing around in this creepy place." she explained, and in the best way she could. "Wait…" Marianne said, holding up a hand to prevent Squall from saying anything. "How did you get here anyway?"

"I don't know… I was about to battle one of my archenemies when I ended up here." Squall told her, in his own words. Marianne then got back to his question. "I know you because, a company from my world created you. A lot of people from my world, Earth, know about you and your adventures…" Marianne said, closing her eyes and opening them. "On a separate continent called Japan, there is a company called Squaresoft. Those guys created you, and everyone else in your world. It was all created as…" Squall urged, "Created as…?" "A game…" she said. "I'm only one of the people who has a copy of Squaresoft's product. They created a series of games called Final Fantasy… And you're from number eight." 

Squall was taken back by shock as he sat down in front of her. Staring in horror. "What…?" he said, in disbelief. "I'm not involved with the company at all. I'm originally from another country, miles and miles away from Japan…" Marianne took a shaky breath and said, "I'm getting out what I know first, because I think I'm onto something that's just really bogusly strange…" 

Squall listened attentively, his eyes narrowing. Marianne wiped more tears from her face. "Maybe…" she started and cut herself off in crying. "Okay, I know I've been…playing the game recently, and I do apologize because I never knew you and your world was real… and maybe you're here because of that…?" Squall held his head in his hands, frustrated. "Maybe I'm stuck here because I'm in a coma…" she continued, crying. 

The young man stood up. "Are you saying you brought me here?" Squall asked. "And are you saying I was just made up by this Squaresoft company? My life, friends, all of my world?!" Marianne just looked up at him, and nodded, and tried to explain the best she could. "I guess I sort of did bring you here, because maybe this is a dimension or something… I don't know!" Squall sighed heavily. _What did I do to deserve this?_ He gazed down at her, with that cold hard stare again. "Maybe I'm here because of my coma… I don't know about you." Marianne said through her tears. She was shaking, really afraid. She suddenly didn't have the courage to say anything to him now.

"This is creepy…really creepy. It's getting on my nerves." Squall said, not happy at all with this situation. "So, how do we get out of here?" Marianne didn't reply, burying her head in her arms and knees. She was curled up into a ball where she was sitting. Shaking uncontrollably. Squall didn't know what to do. He never been around a crying girl before. He could understand that she was afraid and all alone. _Just what the hell do I do?!_ he wondered. Marianne seemed to ignore his presence, feeling vulnerable, and so terrified of being stuck here forever. She then released from her ball like position, looking up at Squall. "Please, you have to help me. I know you're feeling pissed off over the whole Squaresoft issue, but I can return the favor in helping you! I'd owe you my life on that." Marianne cried out, in desperation. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do as a SeeD?! Helping those in need?" She gasped another breath of air as Squall gave her that cold stare, which made her cringe a little. His predatory eyes showed little mercy.

"Squall…" she called, as he turned his back on her from where he stood. He seemed to be in thought or just about to think to himself. "Tell me what you're thinking. I know you…" Marianne added, standing up slowly. "I know you keep your feelings to yourself. I know you don't like to meddle into the business of others." Squall turned angrily. His look was life threatening towards her. "That is NONE of your damn business!!" he fumed. "I know. No one in your world may know, but those in my world do, who are familiar with your world. And I know I gotten in pretty deep shit when I told you all I know. But what else could I do?! Lie?!" "Fuck that!!" he yelled, moving his arm across from him to the side. The usual thing Squall does almost all the time when he gets mad. "You know, your world's a big mess. How can anyone live like that in creating lives, and worlds like that?!" "I don't believe Squaresoft figured you were real!" Marianne argued, just blowing her lid on the sanity scale. "If they did realize, then the whole ongoing series would be at a freaking halt!! You know what? Maybe you're right! I think this WHOLE FREAKIN' UNIVERSE is messed up!!! From GODDAMN speedy drivers to virtual worlds being real to being trapped in this HELLHOLE!!"

Squall didn't say anything in reply. Marianne just broke down and was bawling. He seemed to be taken back by shock by her sudden outburst. "Whoa…" was all he could say. He didn't expect it to get this bad. Maybe a little less… Marianne didn't say anything more, and kept on crying, feeling much worse than she was to start with. 

__

This is crazy! Never in my wildest dreams have I come close to this… he thought to himself. _My whole life being made up as some stupid game by a company in her world… Being summoned into this forest which Marianne believes to be within her coma… _He looked down at her again. Marianne still remained the same, scared out of her wits. _She's pretty upset there… She sounded pretty serious when she told me her story. _Squall looked down, shaking his head in guilt. _We can't possibly help each other out by being at each other's throats… I don't even have a clue, when she does._

With that, Squall knelt down in front of her again. Marianne heard him, but didn't look up. He didn't say anything for two minutes, trying to come up with something to say. _Just apologize._ "…I'm sorry." Squall said and looked down, for starters. Marianne just whimpered in response. She didn't even look at him. _Aw c'mon…_ Squall mentally groaned to himself. "I…think I believe what you've tried to explain, Marianne." he said. "I haven't come even close to a clue as you do." His new, but very sad ally blinked out a few stray tears. Marianne knew Squall had feelings, but didn't often show them with another person.

"S-So…you'll help me?" she asked him in a soft, and weak voice. "We'll help each other… That's what you said before." Squall told her as she nodded. "I'll try if you will." she managed to say as he nodded. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around Squall , who didn't know how to react to this situation at hand. He nervously placed a comforting hand on her back and slid it up and down, patting lightly every now and then. She shook in his arms, not helping but to be afraid. She sniffled as a tear fell on his jacket. Marianne took Squall again by shock as he felt her shaking. It scared him. 

She then released from the hug, and apologized through her crying, "Sorry… It was a reflex thing…" "…Don't worry about it." Squall said, to try to be comforting. The shaken up twenty year old just remained where she sat. "You know, all my life, until today, I've never been hit by a car. That's never happened to me before." she said. "And I was careful, but I just couldn't avoid it…" "How fast was the driver going?" Squall asked, wanting to know. "…Really fast. Way above 30 miles per hour, which is the speed limit on the roads around where I work…" she sobbed in reply. "He was either drunk or had some freakin' speeding issues…" "…You're very lucky to be alive," Squall said, in being as comforting as he could by talking to her. "I know, or I would have been road kill, just like the animals I sometimes see out there around my neighborhood…" she agreed.

Squall sat beside Marianne, who was letting out a good cry. "I don't know the way out of here, but we gotta try." she managed to say. Squall didn't reply as she let the tears flow. "Hey, it's good we understand each other now. I think we wouldn't be any better by ourselves." "That's right…" Squall answered her, slowly. He decided to try to be comforting to help Marianne calm down a little.

"You do know that I owe you with my own life, which is all I can offer to help you in return…" Marianne told Squall through her own despair. Squall was sitting in front of her. "I know. And that's fine. As long as you help me in return." Squall said. "But, how do I get you to wake up from your coma? What am I talking to exactly? If you're in a coma, how am I talking to you? I… I'm confused…" "Maybe… this is sort of half and half. Maybe half of myself is at a hospital, while the other half is here with you." Squall raised an eyebrow, confusion never fading. "Whatever…" he said, dropping the issue.


	3. Getting to Know Each Other, Kinda

Chapter 3: Getting to Know Each Other…Kinda…

It took quite a while, but Marianne calmed down eventually. She took a few drinks from the pond, and Squall helped her to stand on her feet. "Should we just keep walking in the same direction?" she asked her new found "friend", not knowing what to do. "I guess…" was all he could think of to say. "Better to go this way, than the other way." she said, realizing the change of environment of the forest. "Back the other way is not going to help. Nothing is there but a bunch of dead leaves and leafless trees, twigs, and small patches of grass." They exchanged a few glances of bewilderment as they walked through the woods, side by side. She tried to give him an assuring grin to show she was okay, but the attempt was a failure, as the last of her tears were streaming down her face. 

The two strangers from different worlds had no clue as to what to say to each other. Everything was happening so fast, and it gave little time for in between. As they walked, they could notice the trees being alive, thinking they would die soon. Maybe they were right. Maybe this forest was slowly dying, but why? How? Marianne was thinking to herself, coming up with something intelligent…

"Hey, this is some kind of dimension, right? Something in connection with my coma?" she asked just to be sure, for the two of them to hear. "I guess so…" Squall said, not really in the mood for conversation. He wore such a serious expression, and always looked forward. Even when she would look at him from the corner of her left eye every now and then. Marianne wasn't in the mood to talk much either, but she was trying to figure this out. "Maybe… this forest is like me back on Earth…" Marianne said, and stopped walking. Squall stopped too, wondering, _What the…? I don't get it._ "What are you trying to say?" he asked her, patience coming in thin. "Analogy. Get with the program." Marianne forewarned him. "This forest must be like me…" her eyes went wide, realizing what was going on. "This part, where we're walking, won't last long. There's not a living organism to help grow the flowers. It's cloudy, but there's no rain…" She paused, absorbing what she was saying. Squall was still a little slow in getting this. _Analogy…what analogy? Her on Earth and this forest?_ Squall was beginning to realize it too, but had to know for sure.

"Back where you were walking, didn't you say it was nothing but twigs, leafless trees, and dead leaves?" Squall asked her, standing in front of her. Marianne nodded, eyes watering. "You're trying to tell me this forest represents your health status?!" Squall demanded as she slowly nodded. Squall threw his hands up and they slapped down at his sides. "I'm dying… Slowly dying…" she cried. "There has to be someway to make it right." "Shit," Squall hissed, getting mad. And scared. "You think when this whole forest dies, you die?!" Marianne's sobs told him the answer was a "yes." "Then let's keep moving. Maybe we could try to find the source that's killing this place." Squall commanded, but Marianne wasn't moving. "Listen to me Marianne. If you don't want to die, then come with me. I know I don't want to die out here either." Marianne started walking with him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Keep it together. This is about saving your own life here." Squall told her, trying to help her remain strong. 

"This is getting scarier by the minute," she had to say as they walked. "I can't die now! I'm only twenty freaking years old! This is fucked up!" _You got that right_, Squall mentally replied to her. Marianne broke out into a run, desperate to find out what was killing her. Squall dashed on after her. "This is a living nightmare!" she yelled in panic as she ran. Squall gained pace and was running beside her. 

In short while, she had to slow down or else collapse at Squall's feet. Her heart raced in the silence of the forest remaining. She panted heavily, and tried not to hyperventilate. _She's losing it_, Squall suspected, feeling like he had no choice but to help this poor soul. "Take it easy. I know this is really frightening to you, as it is to me, but panicking won't help." "Keep it together, right…" Marianne huffed, letting a stray tear fall from her face. "That's right. I need you to focus, so I can help you." Squall added, wanting her to settle down. "You have to trust me. If we find what's killing this forest, maybe the Earth half of you would break out of the coma…" He placed his hand on his forehead, perplexed. "What am I saying?" "This is bogus. Insane…" Marianne informed as they kept on walking, nonstop.

After a really long journey of walking, it seemed to be getting dark. "There's a night and day here? Unbelievable…" Marianne said for the both of them. "We'll be able to see more clearly in the daytime, so that means we need to camp out for tonight." Squall told her as they stopped where they were. Marianne nodded in agreement to him, having no choice but to trust him. He looked back at her. Marianne's eyes were red and it looked like the tears had stopped appearing on her face. She blinked, and looked away from him, feeling miserable. 

She sat on the grass, legs spread all the way out in front of her. Squall sat a foot away beside her, seeing that a short break was understandable. _She looks really bummed out,_ he observed silently to himself. He took a breath and tried to say something. "We'll find what's killing you. It might be a few days journey, but we'll find it." She didn't look toward him, but only at the ground. She heard him though, but just nodded. "Hey, do you think I _want_ to be here?" he asked, in a harsh tone. "No…" she answered slowly, not paying no mind to his anger. She knew neither of them wanted to be trapped in this place. She knew Squall and her were both in this together, and together to the end. 

It was getting cold, so the two only human beings around in the dying forest gathered up fallen branches, leaves, and twigs for building a fire. To start the fire, Squall scraped his gunblade against a rock to get out a few sparks. Feeling blue still, but Marianne couldn't help but say something about that weapon. "That gunblade of yours is awesome, by the way…" Marianne commented, voice sounding tired and dull. "Thanks… I think so too." Squall responded to her, in sort of kind and calm way. In a minute or so, the fire had started. After miles and miles of walking, they sat down beside each other next to the fire. They knew that there was nothing to eat. Not a berry or apple tree anywhere. Nothing.

Marianne sat, arms around her knees, resting her chin on them. Squall was seated in the grass beside her, palms flat on the ground, legs spread out. The growling of their stomachs begged for food. "I hope we'll find something to eat tomorrow. On the other side, the woods has to be more lively." Squall said. His companion said nothing, but stared blankly at the dancing flames of the bonfire, in thought. 

"What are you thinking?" Squall asked, trying to help keep his ally's sanity. "I'm real homesick…" she said. "My mom and dad must be worried sick." _Oh yeah…_ Squall figured. He should have known earlier that she would be thinking of her family. He talked to her, not knowing how else to help. 

"And your brothers and sisters too, huh?"

"No… I'm an only child…"

"Oh… I don't have siblings either."

Marianne, getting far into disc two of Final Fantasy 8, wasn't really sure if Ellone was really Squall's sister yet, so she didn't say anything about his personal issues.

"I miss my cats too."

"Oh?"

"I know they all miss me…" she said, letting her own eyes dry up from crying so much. "I've never been so scared in my life…"

Squall told her, "I miss my comrades. My friends. We all miss someone, and I guess that's good." Marianne just nodded in silence. "Yeah, I wonder how Zell, Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie, and Irvine are doing too." she said. "Now that I know it's all real, I sympathize even more, in a way…"

She heard him sigh. She slowly drifted out of her depression, wanting another answer from Squall. "You said you were going into battle with someone…who?" she had to ask. "Seifer…" Squall said. "Ugh, bastard." she replied, feeling a bit of anger towards him. "I know…" Squall agreed. "…I guess you know all about it, from playing the stupid game…" She didn't reply. She knew that ticked him off, and dropped it.

They were quiet again. This conversation was growing awkward, and not really friendly. Marianne bit her lower lip, not being able to stop thinking about her folks at home. Her eyes were too dry to produce more tears. Squall looked towards the fire, keeping his hands warm. His stare was blank. _It's really creepy. She knows all the names of my friends, and knows how much of a bad person Seifer is. Why did this all happen in the first place? It's something I really don't need. Not that Marianne needs it either._

Marianne observed he was thinking to himself again, trying to figure this mess out. She didn't know what else to think anymore, but to trust Squall's good intentions. He was the one to help her keep it together. To prevent insanity. _I need to thank him for that…_ she told herself in private.

"Squall…" He looked towards her all ears. She was looking at the fire. "I appreciate you, preventing me to lose my mind. I probably wouldn't last this long with you, ya know?" He nodded. "Thanks." she said. "…Sure." Squall said to her, just hesitating a little. "I know you're not totally comfortable having to deal with me, but I mean no harm." she assured him, as the talking continued.

"I know. It's just this whole thing is fucked, like you said earlier today."

"Yeah…"

"Yeah…"

Then there was another minute of silence. They looked away. "Dammit, I hate this." she said, just letting it come out. Better to let it out, than to keep it bottled up like Squall does. "I don't like to know the fact that I'm slowly dying… Fate is just as cruel as ever now." "I'm with you all the way on that," Squall said, understanding on how she felt. More silence…

Marianne let out a sneeze. It was either dust in her nose, or the fact that chilly air was touching her back. Squall looked to her in response, his eyes narrowing. "You better not get sick…" he said, half threatening. "I know, I'm in enough trouble as it is." Marianne remarked, and sighed. She sniffled a little, and looked down. She felt something was put on her. "Here," he said, as she looked and saw that Squall let her borrow his coat! "You need this more than me. Be sure to give it back in the morning." "Thanks…" she said. "I will." 

Marianne had to give him a little grin, as she slid her arms into the sleeves of his jacket. Nice and warm. She couldn't help but stroke her fingers on the fur collar. Squall shook his head and looked away. "It's real nice of you… Caring about me like that. You know, we could have gone our own separate ways, and you could have let me go insane and die." She laughed a little, thinking how she said it was funny. "That's true, but you know what's going on more than I do. So I decided to stick around… I would have gone insane too if I didn't." Squall admitted to her. "So, we need each other to survive this thing." she assumed. "Yeah…" was his answer.

"Squall, are you sure you won't get cold?"

"I got a long sleeve on, unlike you."

"Heh… Well, I guess my mind wasn't real creative, being out of it and all to not give me a jacket." 

She had to laugh. Squall shook his head slowly, slightly frustrated. _This is just getting ridiculous._ It caused her to giggle more when Squall reacted like that. "What the hell is so funny? Is dying funny to you guys on Earth?!" "No, silly. I was just laughing over what I said. You have to let a little humor into it at times. When I'm usually not scared as hell, I happen to be humorous a lot." she said, smiling at him. "Not another Zell…" Squall groaned. This made her laugh more. "Zell's like that too, huh? Poor you…" she teased, and giggled endlessly. "Yeah, you and him would get along really well. Why couldn't he be here with you, instead of me?" he groaned miserably as she could not stop laughing over this. She snickered, "I don't think that's how it works. See, when I thought it was just a game (stupid me), you became my most favorite character. Zell's just below you on that scale." Squall looked at her in surprise, repeating, "I'm your most favorite?" "Yeah. It made me sympathize with you. You're complex. Zell's just funny, so he's second coolest." 

"Whatever…" Squall said looking away, causing her to giggle again. "It's true though. Zell and I would be best buds. We'd crack each other up." "Yeah, and drive me up a wall." Squall said, annoyed. "Poor you…" she teased. _Why me? WHY?_ Squall mentally asked himself and he held his head in his hands. "Okay, if we get out of here, I'll be sure to introduce you to Zell." he said, rolling his eyes at her. "Cool!" Marianne replied excitedly. 

"And Quistis too?! She kicks butt." 

"Yeah, Quistis too. I'm not sure if that will happen, but it does, I'll introduce you to all my friends." 

"Cool…"

"Thanks again, I needed the laugh." Marianne said, hugging him with one arm. "Whatever…" he said, not looking at her, but blankly staring back at the fire. "Good to know you're feeling better…" Squall had a gold wrist watch on, which she hadn't noticed when he wore those gloves and jacket in the video game. "Better get some sleep. We have to keep walking tomorrow." Marianne agreed, "Right. " She smiled kindly. "G'night." "Goodnight." he said and turned over on his side, facing away from her to sleep.

Marianne thanked God for Squall, and that someone was helping her through this difficulty. She prayed for him to keep helping her stay strong, and to help her family stay strong too, for she knew she would wake up from this coma somehow. She asked for help on where the source was. At a time like this, she was desperate in need of God's guidance. Even though she wasn't an all over religious Catholic, she knew there was a God, who helped her before in times of need.

She slept, after taking one last look at Squall's coat she was wearing, and at the guy sleeping on the grass beside her near the fire. 


	4. Lingering Fear

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Another Disclaimer: The only things I own are my character, my character's parents, the forest world I made up, and my CDs, but not the artists!

Chapter 4: Lingering Despair 

Marianne didn't know she could dream in this dimension, but it was darkness. She could hear someone speaking to her. _Mom…_

"I love you, Marianne…" _Mom, I'll be okay. I'll wake up soon. Please don't cry. It's making me want to cry too. Oh how I wished I could wake up, and hug you forever!_ Of course her mom didn't hear her. Marianne couldn't see through her helpless body, but she could imagined how her mom would look, as devastated as she was knowing she's in a coma. "I wonder if you even hear me…" _I can hear you mom. I love you! I miss you!_

She stirred awake and sat up from where she laid down, crying again. "Mom…" she sobbed. Squall woke up too, rubbing his eyes. "What?" he asked, as she told him what happened. "I think when I fell asleep, I was back with my other self at the hospital. Mom's crying… I couldn't see anything, or even talk to her, knowing how out of it my body is." Squall looked at her, not knowing what to say. "I'm just going to stay up until I'm really tired. You can go back to sleep if you want." Marianne told him, looking away. "I know this is hard for you, but you need to try and get some rest. I'm not going to drag you around across the forest. If you care about your family that much, then you need to rest up and be ready for another day of walking." he advised. Marianne nodded. "Okay, I'll try…" she sobbed and laid back down, as Squall watched over her a while before going back to sleep himself.

Marianne heard her mom crying again as she was deeply asleep again. It went on and on for a long time, until mom said, "I'm going back home. I'll see you tomorrow." _Okay Mom. I love you so much…_ she mentally cried out to her…

The next morning, Squall let his friend rest a little while longer. _It must be very difficult. Having to hear your own mother cry while you're visiting your other half in the hospital._ Squall suspected. When Marianne woke up, they put out the fire and kept walking. Marianne didn't say a word, but only shed silent tears. Squall must have figured she had a rough night, while he slept decently, other than being woken up in the middle of the night. By her.

"Were you back at the hospital when you went back to sleep last night?" he asked her in concern. "Uh huh…" she said, and another urge to cry was coming along. "My mom seemed to be crying on and on, and I couldn't do a damn thing. I couldn't even move." "I'm sorry…" was all Squall could think of to say. "I felt sorry for you, so I didn't wake you up when morning had come. It's a little past eleven-thirty now." Squall told her as she thanked him. She cried softly as they walked. Squall frowned sympathetically at her. _Poor Marianne. It's just not right… She doesn't deserve any of this, _ he thought to himself.

For a while, there was just walking. No discussion. No arguing. No laughing. The only sounds were of their feet walking along the ground. "Oh," she remembered, giving Squall's jacket back to him. Squall gently took it from her as she didn't feel so cold anymore. Today was a warm day. Everything was quiet, except for the bugs.

The high pitched noise of the mosquitoes were nearby. The two slapped them away while they walked. "Damn bugs…" Squall heard Marianne mutter. They walked on and on, with the mosquitoes nipping at their skin, There were some red bumps on Marianne's arms, and they sort of itched. Squall had his gloves and jacket on. He noticed the bug bites on her skin. "Well, at least there's some signs of life. It just started at the wrong foot." Marianne grumbled, along with her stomach. They were starving.

After walking for another couple of hours, they looked ahead and found… berries! "Food… Thank you God…" Marianne praised in relief as they picked off and ate as many of them as they can. They were blackberries.

Marianne gathered some for later, tucking them in her jeans pocket. When the team of two had their fill, they moved on, the mosquitoes still trailing behind them. "Ouch! Dammit." Marianne complained, slapping another one dead, which was biting into her arm. She slapped at her face and neck too, which only had on bite there so far. "This sucks." she said. Squall didn't reply, knowing how much of a hassle it was for her more than him. But he was annoyed by the damned parasites as she was. 

There was a stream up ahead, so Squall and Marianne took a few sips of water. Sooner or later that day, they both had to go, so they didn't wander far, backs turned to each other and did their business when necessary.

When the weather cooled down later that afternoon, the swarm of annoying parasites gave up and buzzed away. "I guess it'll be evening soon…" Squall suspected. "When the temperature starts to drop, that means the coming of nightfall." "And we still haven't found anything, but berries, and water." Marianne said, then quickly added, "Hey, better than nothing I guess." "Yeah…" Squall replied. "Ugh, damn bugs." she said, rubbing the itching away on her arms. 

When they started another campfire, Squall tried casting a Cure spell. Didn't work. He tried Ensuna, and it did work. The bites and itching were all gone. "Thanks…" Marianne said. "No problem." Squall replied, as he sat by her. She sighed unhappily, wondering if they'll ever save this forest, or if even it deserves to be saved, because of the bugs. 

In the next few seconds during the evening, there was something ringing softly throughout the forest. Squall heard it too, asking, "Hey, do you hear that? …It sounds like music." Marianne didn't say something, recognizing what was playing. "I'm not alone 'cause the TV's on yeah… I'm not crazy 'cause I take the right pills. Everyday, and rest," sang the male vocal, alto pitched, singing a song that was so familiar to Marianne's ears.

"Hey, I know that song!!" she shouted, surprised that music was even playing. "It's off of one of my CDs!" "CDs?" Squall repeated, not recognizing the term. "Compact Disc. They're… Do you have the flat circular discs with the whole in the middle? In your world?" she tried to explain him, feeling overwhelmed by what was going on. "On my world, we just call them discs… You mean like computer software?" Squall told her. "No, not exactly. I'm talking about the discs which you listen to for music pleasure." she said, listening to the song. "It has to be my mom or dad. They're playing my CDs for me back on Earth!!"

Realizing what was going on, she smiled, shedding tears of joy. "Thank you…" she whispered, as if her parents back in her world could hear her. Squall just looked upon her, giving a small grin. He was happy for her. She looked back, smiling as the happy tears came pouring down her face. "This is really comforting." Marianne said. Squall just nodded in understanding, and listened to the music himself.

"So, this is music from Earth?"

"Yeah. The music in my world's awesome. I love it with a passion.."

For a while as it got dark, Marianne sang along to her music softly, as Squall listened to her sing. _What a vocalist. Marianne sure likes her music,_ he thought to himself, only slightly amused of her. "I'm on my feet. I'm on the floor. I'm good to go. And all I need is just to hear a song I know," she sang, following along with the male singer. "I wanna always feel like part of this, was, mi-i-ine. I wanna fall in love tonight…"

She gave Squall the different music group names she liked as the various CDs played: Jimmy Eat World, Third Eye Blind, Incubus, The Offspring… Names of musician groups Squall had never heard of before. Currently, one of the Incubus CDs were playing. The one called Make Yourself. "Will I ever get to where I'm going? If I do, will I know when I'm there…"

He didn't try to sing along though, but just listened. Marianne guessed he liked the music that was playing, or maybe pretending. In truth, he did like the music, as well as her own singing voice. _Music wise, I'm impressed of her world,_ Squall silently said to himself.

After a while, the music was turned off. The last of Marianne's Third Eye Blind CD was over. She was a little disappointed, but got the message since she was getting tired. Squall checked his watch. About 11:30 PM. It made sense as to why the music had stopped. Marianne smiled. "G'night Squall. " He nodded, with that small and friendly grin. "Sleep well…" he told her as she laid down and closed her eyes. Squall did the same.

Marianne was back at the hospital, but all was quiet. She felt something though. It was sort of a fuzziness on her forehead. Like a moustache and beard. It sounded like a kiss. Marianne quickly figured it out, as she felt something being lifted off of her ears. Her dad was kissing her goodnight, removing the headphones from her ears. _Thanks Dad… I love you. Thank you so much for the music. You have no idea…_ she tried to tell him all at once, but of course could not move her lips, or even move. It was only a mental message she got out to her father. She began to cry from what seemed on the inside…

Squall heard the silent crying from Marianne as he slowly woke up. _She's crying in her sleep again…_ he mentally observed. The once reluctant Squall Leonhart placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, caring. 

He knew how difficult it was for her to cope through the coma. She was scared all the time. She needed his help, since there was no one else out there. Until Marianne fell silent and slept, which wasn't too long, Squall stayed awake, moving his hand around her back and the one shoulder that wasn't resting on the ground. There was just no way to go back to sleep for him until her crying had stopped. Squall wasn't a heavy sleeper at all. He also noticed something strange. He wouldn't dream about the ex-soldier anymore. Laguna Loire. Maybe that was because Ellone couldn't reach him in this place.

After a little more in comforting her, Squall rested his head on the grass next to her. "You'll be alright." he whispered. "We're nearly there." With that, he fell asleep…


	5. Understanding One Another

Chapter 5: Understanding One Another

The two were awake and moving again, just after having some more berries for breakfast. Squall let Marianne know that she was crying in her sleep again, when she only thought it was just in her mind.

"So I woke you up then, huh…" Marianne said to her only friend and savior, always walking beside her. Squall didn't reply, as his eyes were a little red in lack of sleep. "My bad," Marianne apologized as he looked her way. "What?" She remembered. It was a term Squall wasn't familiar with. "My bad is slang for 'my mistake'. Like apologizing?" Squall got that and told her, "Don't apologize. I understand you miss your parents. " He sighed. _I wish I knew my parents…_

The mosquitoes were back again, swarming as usual, the same time. Around noon. "Protect." Squall said as he stopped the two of them and performed the spell. The blue light circled to form a temporary forcefield around Marianne's body. The mosquitoes around her got zapped in the process. Her partner also cast Protect on himself. "Now this what I call bug repellent." Marianne smiled a little, with a pinch of humor in what she said. "I'm tired of those parasites too," Squall said. "I wish I could have thought of it yesterday. Besides, you were covered in bites." "Yeah," Marianne agreed, instantly remembering. "Damn bugs…" 

Squall had to cast Protect on the both of them to keep the bugs from biting about every other hour. He had about twenty. He hoped they would reach the root of the problem soon. The source of "evil" that's been slowly killing the forest they moved in. 

Marianne broke out into song, without the aid of the music this time. It was something to occupy herself with. It was some of the songs they heard last night, along with other songs Squall had not heard before. So he just listened like before, glad for the entertainment. _I don't think I can even sing. Not as good as she does._ he told himself in private. His new friend ran out of song eventually, mumbling about being thirsty. 

When they found another small creek of water, they stopped to get a drink. Then they kept walking for a while. At this point of the day, Marianne darted her eyes between looking forward and looking at Squall. The gunblade wielder noticed, but didn't say anything. 

Finally, Marianne decided to let out what she had to tell him. "I just want to get some stuff off my chest, alright? You can open up and tell me anything. I don't mind…" Squall shortly glanced at her with the corner of his right eye, and then looked forward. "I once used to bottle up my problems, through this one depression years ago. It was no fun…" she continued. _Why is she telling me this?_ Squall wondered as he just listened to what she had to say. "This guy on Earth I used to be ex-friends with pretty much hurt my feelings, and you know how sensitive I am. But I tried to get through this one depression by myself. Didn't work. You may have gone through similar stuff for much longer than I have, but still, I know what it's like."

They both took a sideways glance towards each other, as Marianne added, "Zell and the others are right you know. It's like you're a bolt, that's been screwed up too tight. But I know something they don't." Squall had to ask, "And what is that?" "Back when I thought…you know…, I could see inside that shell you built to hide your emotions from others. It's not like I could hear your thoughts, or what anyone has been saying… Just text." Squall's eyes were narrowing. _Not this again._

"I understand that childhood vision you have every now and then, when you were at the orphanage… I know you don't really want to be the way you are." Squall had to cut her off, saying, "Shut up. " They stopped walking. He pointed a shaking finger at her. Marianne knew what he was going to say.

"That's none of your business."

"That's none of my business."

They said it simultaneously. Squall was taken back by surprise for a second. "I know. I just want you to know that I want to be there for you, like you're here for me right now." Marianne was calm about this. It felt eerie to her companion. "I know hearing this ticks you off, and I'm done. I just had to let it out. Unlike you, I can't bottle it up. Not anymore…" 

She was right. Squall didn't like that bit at all about her telling him what she knew about him. It was supposed to be something only kept to himself. The more angrier he got, the iris of the eyes were getting brighter. Now it was so bright that it almost blended in with the whites of his eyeballs. "You think you know everything? You're wrong." "Well, I don't know exactly everything, but quite a bit." she said, calmly and in an honest way. "More than you should." he said to Marianne, very angry. "You just stay the hell out of my personal life." She nodded. "I don't blame you. I would feel the same way." The way she was so calm about it pissed Squall off. He pointed his index finger at him. "You just shut hell up and mind your own damn business!" She didn't say anything, but looked away, not hurt. She walked a little up ahead, with Squall falling a few steps behind.

__

Who the fuck does she think she is? he fumed to himself, the blue of his eyes never growing darker with concern. _ How was I to know my own life and destiny were made by a company in HER world? It scares me, her knowing so much about me, when I barely know much about her! It's fucked!!! And how can she be so damn calm about it? _ The answer hit him after a minute. _She just cares about me. She wants to return the favor. But, no. Not like this. It's just too upsetting for me to take._

Time passed, and the tension slowly grew less. Squall understood why she told him what she knew. He noticed he had changed a little on the past two days. And before he even met Marianne. He suddenly wasn't liking the introverted, antisocial part of him much anymore. 

Marianne then stopped walking. "Could we just take a short break? Feet are tired." Squall nodded in approval as the two sat down beside each other. She gave him a calm, serene expression. "Still mad at me?" That took a moment for Squall to answer. "A little…" She slowly nodded in understanding, the calmness never leaving her side.

Music began to ring throughout the forest again. Marianne recognized it as Third Eye Blind. "I remember you and me used to spend the whole goddamned day in bed! Losing a whole year…" Squall seemed to remember that song, but forgot the band's name. "God, I miss home." Marianne said softly, closing her eyes. When she opened them, two tears dripped down her face. Squall's anger had pretty much faded, and wrapped an arm to give her a hug. He figured it's what she needed anyway. She hugged him back, just before wiping a tear away. "We're getting closer you know. Listen." Squall told her, as she heard birds chirping. She smiled a little. "I think we're almost there." Squall added. "It won't be long now. You'll see your parents again soon." She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. "Ready to get going?" he asked as the two stood up. The Third Eye Blind CD continued to play softly among the chirping birds in the background.


	6. Destination

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Heh, I really like this chapter…

Chapter 6: Destination

They reached a tall hill, and climbed up. When they got to the top, Marianne pointed to the problem. In the middle of a dried up river, there was a steel wall of some sort. Tannish in color. Squall noticed the ones who built it. They looked like soldiers in camouflaged armor. A group of five. There were orange goggle shaped looking things on where the eyes should be. "We need to talk to them," Marianne told Squall. "They need to understand that they don't know what they're doing." "Let's go." Squall agreed as they were walking down the hill. 

One of the soldier guys looked up and noticed the two intruders. "Look." it said in a mechanical like voice. It was close to human, but the way it sounded wasn't exactly human. Another robot, the same as the rest, ordered, "Seize them."

Marianne and Squall had obviously made out what they said. "I don't think they want to talk." Squall said. "Like I didn't know that," Marianne said sarcastically. The robots were running up the hill as Squall whipped out his gunblade. "Stay behind me, and you won't get hurt." he suggested as she did as she was told. The robots caught up to them and they were surrounded. "Thundara!" Squall shouted, putting his hand to his head, and throwing a strong lightning magic spell at one of the robo soldiers. It was electrocuted badly and stumbled back. The armor on the right arms on the rest of the bots slid back, showing a small gun. Squall and Marianne were zapped instantly. Squall fell face down with Marianne landing on her side on top of him, unconscious. 

One of the robo soldiers acted like the head out of the four that remained functioning. "Seven-Seven-Four and Two-Three-Zero: You take Zero-Zero-Six to the Repairs Station. " it ordered. The two who were called obeyed and lifted their fallen comrade up from the ground. "Two-Nine-Five, carry the weapon wielder. I'll carry the other intruder." The head camouflaged robot picked up Marianne's limp body and flung her over its back. The other did the same with Squall, but only with one arm, carrying his gunblade in the other. "Interesting looking weapon…" said robot number Two-Five-Nine. In single file, they stepped back down the hill, where their dam was built…

Marianne awoke, eyes opening quickly as she noticed she was conscious. "Marianne," Squall's voice called to her. Came from her left. She tried to move over to him, but she couldn't move her wrists and feet. She saw what was going on for the both of them when she turned her head to her left. Squall was bound to a metal slab. His wrists and feet where locked onto it. She noticed her friend's sheath strapped to his belt. Empty. "Where's your gunblade?" she asked him in a worried tone of voice. "They took it from me…" he said, hatred towards the hostile robots that captured them.

Just then, a door on the wall in front of the slid automatically to the right. In stepped three robots. Two of the camouflaged ones that they've seen before, and the one in the middle had more bulk to its structure. The way it was designed kind of reminded Marianne of Samus, from the Metroid games she's heard about, but never got a chance to play them yet.

"Humans. It's been over twenty years since I've last seen them." the red one said, and did a gesture, moving one arm out to its side, signaling the other two's dismissal. Marianne didn't like the sound of that. Squall thought, _I got a really bad feeling about this…_ "Listen, you don't understand! This forest is somehow connected to my mind, and if you don't take down that damn, this forest, and myself, will die!" Marianne said, quickly and direct to the point. This robot had a more superior intelligence, unlike the others. The red one was in charge.

"Is that so?" their captor asked, in a calm monotone voice for a male human voice. Its electronic speech sounded deeper than the ones they encountered outside. "Where are we?" Squall had to ask, noticing the different surroundings. The walls were steel, as well as the floor. To the left of the door the red bot came in, there was a large computer and keyboard. It was turned off. "This is my fort." the red one told both of them. "My drones have found you near the dam site." "Drones?" Squall quirked. Marianne was trying to get loose from the locks. "I created them, but humans have created me. My creators, and yourselves, may refer to me as…Blade Slater…" "Where are your creators?" Squall asked. "I destroyed them. I was too intelligent beyond their control, and wanted to shut me down. I didn't allow it." Blade Slater told them, always calm, same monotone of voice. Marianne and Squall's eyes grew wide with horror, immediately scared of being killed by this machine.

"I shall not annihilate you. That is in the past. My long term memory bank can remember it quite clearly." "We'd rather not hear your story," Marianne cut him off, shaking through her tears. "Very well." Blade Slater responded, looking towards her. "Yes… That reaction I remember. One of the female creators of me acted just like that." "Listen, we don't have TIME for conversation!" Squall fumed, patience growing really thin. "We need you to take that dam down, or my friend dies a slow death!" Marianne looked at him through the fear as Squall returned the expression, worried. "Are you saying this female is one with this planet?" Slater questioned, as he turned on the computer, pressed some buttons, and a compartment within the wall slid open, on the wall between the computer, and the door. "…Planet?" Squall and Marianne said at the same time, really spooked. "Bizarre…" Marianne commented. 

The cyborg pulled out a jar full of dirt and pressed a button on the wall to close the compartment up. A part of the hip section of Blade Slater slid open, and it pulled out a thing that looked like one of those grocery store scanners. Marianne shut her eyes as Slater scanned her with the blue laser, and opened them when the jar was being scanned. Two beeps came from the robot as it placed the scanner device back into its hip. Slater checked the back of the scanner. "So it's true then. Very well." Marianne and Squall sighed in relief as Slater was walking back to the computer.

"Take down the dam. We won't be needing that for future use." Blade Slater ordered, the tone of its voice never changing. The intercom was turned off, as Slater walked back to Marianne. "What is your name?" it asked. "Marianne," she said, trying to sound brave. "I shall use this one for experimentation." Slater said. "NO!!!" Squall screamed, making Marianne jerk in shock by the sudden rising of his voice. "As for you, angry male," Blade Slater turned to him. "You'll might as well accompany her in the process. I want to learn more. Especially about the reproduction." "HELL NO!" Marianne yelled, definitely on Squall's side. "We will not be your fuckin' lab rats!" "You don't have a choice." Slater said, always calm, never did rise the tone of its voice. Perhaps this cyborgs was unable to do that.

"I have my own life THANK YOU!" Marianne snapped. "I have my own family back home! I'll be waking up soon, AWAY from this God awful place, and I'm taking Squall with me! My other half is at my planet, in a hospital. In a COMA!" "…Damn right!!" was all Squall could think of to answer. 

Slater said nothing for a second, then, "This is supernatural here. Very interesting." As the evil menace stood in front of her, Marianne had to revolt. She spit right on the shiny surface of where a human's eyes should be on Slater's helmet like head. It looked just like the head of Samus. An metal set of tiny tongs came out of its head, holding an eyedropper, gathering up her saliva into it. "Thank you." Blade Slater said automatically. This metal head happened to have a crude sense of humor. She fumed as Squall cursed at the new enemy.


	7. A Battle, Followed by the Truth

Chapter 7: A Battle, Followed by the Truth

Two of Slater's drones have entered, as Slater turned to face them. "Take the humans down to the lab, and lock them in." it ordered. "No!!" Marianne cried as they rushed up behind the metal slab tables to press some buttons. The locks came off their wrists and around their feet as they slid to stand. Before the two could run off, the drones grabbed a firm hold of them, dragging them out of the room. "You will not get away with this! I swear!! You twisted piece of garbage!!!" Marianne yelled towards Slater, who was busy at the computer to respond. Squall was concentrating, on bringing up one of the GFs he had in possession. Shiva.

Marianne and her only friend in this place were struggling all they can. Within a minute, Shiva appeared and froze the robots, and everything within the room around them, as they pulled into a safe limbo during the Diamond Dust attack. When they were back, Marianne acted in surprise. "I forgot about that!" she said. "This situation was a definite emergency to use Guardian forces." Squall nodded. He kicked the drones back as they shattered into a thousand pieces. Slater, on the other hand, had broken free of his ice prison before they had time to react. The cyborg carefully stood on the ice, avoiding to slip. "Thundaga!" Squall chanted, and placed his hand to his forehead, and a huge lightning attack had struck Slater. This didn't affect him. "Your powers do little use of damage to me." Slater told Squall, in that never changing monotone. "I have no choice but to stun you two and take you to the lab myself." "You'll have to battle me first." Squall challenged.

"Now you will see why I am known as Blade Slater…" The right armored arm began to change. The shape of the arm had turned to a blade shape, as holes appeared, showing a pattern of scattered seeds. The blade was glowing a bright orange. "Squall! Be careful." Marianne warned him, fearful of what was to become of them. Squall nodded and told her to stand back. The ice was so slippery, that Marianne had to be careful walking all the way to the right wall as the battle began. "I do not wish to harm you, human, but I have no choice." Slater forewarned. "I'm not afraid of you!" Squall fumed, and cast another Thundaga spell. 

Two gun looking things popped out from Blade Slater's shoulders and shot bullets towards Squall. Marianne was rooting for him. "Cast the Flare! KICK HIS ASS!!" Squall hissed in pain, but knew what she was talking about. He cast Flare and it did a really good amount of damage on Blade Slater. "Impressive power. I underestimated you." the cyborg mused and began to rush toward him, but slipped on the ice. Squall and Marianne laughed in response. Slater rose to its feet slowly and used the ice to slide and slash at Squall with its glowing blade arm, causing him to scream at the burn of it. His right arm was singed badly. "You MONSTER!" Marianne hollered, and threw a hunk of metal at the evil machine, not wanting to be helpless to watch. The metal came into impact with a loud clang against Slater's helmet-for-a-head. 

This gave time for Squall to summon Diablos, which was a little slow coming, and Marianne kept covering his back by throwing pieces of a broken metal table at Blade Slater. "Persistent humans." it mused as Diablos gave the cyborg one hell of a beating with his gravity attack. "Wow!!" Marianne exclaimed in excitement in seeing one of her favorite GFs in the flesh. Diablos looked to her, nodded, and disappeared into a bunch of flying bats, flying through and inside Squall's body. "Whoa…" commented Marianne with a look of awe as the two looked back to Slater.

The robot had collapsed onto its knees now. "Dude, that was quick." Marianne had to say in reaction. "Yeah, I would have expected more," Squall said. "You…win… The rest…of the…drones…are at…your command." Slater managed to say as sparks flew onto the icy floor. Squall cradled his arm as they headed through the door. Marianne slipped and skidded towards him. "You're hurt." "Cure…" Squall said through the pain as the burn had vanished. "Not anymore." he said as the two embraced, relieved to be free and alive. "Let's go find your gunblade, and tell those robot jerks to destroy the dam," she said, a little out of breath from all the tension of the battle. That and throwing the pieces of metal at Slater, who was suffering now.

They walked out of the room, so see a few drones standing outside. "You freakin' heard him! Go and destroy the dam !!" Marianne commanded at them angrily as the three were running. "One of you, lead us to my gunblade!" Squall called as one of the drones stayed. As they were following the drone to the right of the corridor, a gentle female voice rang out, sounding mechanical. "I am Cleo." "What? The psychic lady?! This WAY weird!" Marianne yelled, really freaked out. But this voice didn't sound like the Cleo she knew. The voice was soft, a little higher pitched. "No, I am the essence of this planet, and needed your help. " "Stop!" Squall called out to the drone, who silently stopped. Cleo fell silent.

"You have some explaining to do Cleo, and right now!!" Marianne hollered, wanting the information from her right away. "It's true. I did make you connect within here. After searching the galaxy for so long, I found Earth. And within Earth I had found you and Squall. The two of you were in trouble, I realized that, and I decided to help you Marianne." "…What? About my coma?" Marianne asked. "That's right." "But why me?" Squall wanted to know. He was looking around, trying to locate where the voice was coming from. "Why did you bring me here too?" "Marianne had brought you here in the process of me bringing her essence here. Subconsciously, she needed a hero like you." Marianne scratched her head. "Okay…" was all she could say, surprised. "So I was right." A second robot drone in the hall had walked towards Squall, holding his gunblade. Squall took it, and slid his weapon into its sheath. Its home. 

"Blade Slater was destroying me and my world, and I had to do something. Now that he is defeated, I can send you both back to where you belong." Cleo said. Marianne and Squall looked at one another. "No," she said, looking at her friend. "I want you to bring Squall, all those he cares about, and myself to my world. You think you can do that?" "I'll do it, in return for what you have done for me." Cleo told her, grateful for what she had done for this planet.

Just then, Marianne felt a shock of pain on her head and her left side. Her face said it all. She was about to fall over when Squall caught her in his arms. He watched in horror as Marianne said through the extreme pain, "I think it's happening…We're going back…" Her eyes were growing heavy and closed as Squall saw her eyes grow swollen, a bandage appearing around her head. "Marianne!" he yelled, his face all written with horror. The world around them flashed like a hologram on and off, fast like a strobe light. Cleo said her last words…

"I know this has brought the two of you closer. Peace be with the both of you, according to what is said within Marianne's religion. May the two you be granted happiness toward one another. Marianne, get well… Squall, take care of this fragile spirit. She needs you… She needs your love…"

"What's happening to her?! Stop this!!!" Squall yelled out to Cleo's voice. The mysterious essence of the planet connected to Marianne. "She's connecting back to her body on Earth. It will be alright. Farewell, brave Marianne Markham and Squall Leonhart…"


	8. Home

Chapter 8: Home…

Squall blinked to find himself holding Marianne, on a bed. She was stirring. Her eyes slowly opened as Squall looked and saw that they were in a hospital room. Marianne's hospital room! Her eyes slowly opened. "Ow, ow, OW…" she moaned as Squall got off the bed. He was crushing her already hurt chest a little. It even hurt her to sit up. "Wha…? Am I back?" When she looked in front of her, she noticed a group of familiar faces. They were confused as to what was going on. Squall hadn't noticed them, but stared down at her, in words beyond description of how shocked he looked. A tear had fallen from his eye, stricken scared on how pale and awful Marianne had looked. She looked toward him, as he held onto her hand. "Squall, behind you…" she said as Squall looked, slowly turning his head. The group he knew as his friends stood facing him. And two more people arrived. Seifer and Edea. They were shocked, and showed no signs of evil.

"Squall!" all of his friends exclaimed at once. A nurse peeked into the room from behind all of Squall's friends, and then walked off to tell the doctor. This took Squall back by surprise as he saw his old comrades. "What the hell happened man?! It was like one minute we were going to defeat the sorceress and Seifer, and then you were gone!" A young man with a black tattoo on his face had called out. He looked really spooked. Marianne recognized Zell Dincht and the others right away. "This is all happening so fast. Squall, what is going on?" Quistis Trepe demanded, holding her head, which was swimming in confusion. Squall looked back to Marianne as she told him softly, "Tell them…" Squall wiped the lingering tear from his cheek and took a deep breath…

After about a while, Squall had finished telling about Marianne and the truth about the world where he and his friends came from. About the planet. Cleo. Blade Slater. Everything that happened to him. There were tons of questions, but everything was answered, by Squall. Marianne just observed everyone's actions. It then grew quiet. Squall looked back toward his newest friend, Marianne. "You look…awful." he told her, still frightened by the sight of her. She was fine when he first met her, and now… "Am I dreaming this or is this really happening?" Rinoa had to ask herself as she stood on the other side of Marianne's hospital bed, looking down at her pale face, and swollen eyes and bottom lip. "It's real," she whispered to her. "It's all real." It was Zell's turn to step up to her. "Hey Zell, what's up dude?" Marianne said, trying to smile over the agonized pain, but that was unsuccessful. Seifer came up and stood behind him. Marianne didn't say anything to him. Squall didn't either. No one spoke to him. "What? Can't I care too?!" Seifer snapped, annoyed of all the tension. "He's back to normal…" Rinoa said as Seifer was confused. "What?!" he nearly shrieked. Marianne reached for Zell's hand, tears in her eyes. Zell took it, and held onto it. "I'd like to punch that driver's lights out…" he said. "I'd do the same." Squall agreed.

Marianne then was starting to get concerned about seeing her parents. Edea, not possessed by evil anymore, had volunteered to go to the lobby for her. "Poor thing!" Selphie cried to Marianne and frowned. "That driver doesn't even know how to treat a lady right," Irvine agreed, standing beside her. Squall never took his eyes off of her, and held her right hand in his, holding and caressing it gently. Rinoa Heartily was crying at the sight of her. She knelt down on the other side, across from Squall. Zell was on the left on Rinoa, in a chair. Quistis stood on the other side of her, silently letting the tears of sorrow for Marianne fall down her cheeks. Selphie and Irvine were standing side by side, to Squall's right. Seifer stood by the foot of the bed. "I see you took care of him okay." he said, talking about Squall. Marianne just nodded slowly and said in response, "Squall took care of me too." She looked toward who she was closest with out of the bunch. "I… I feel so sad for you, Marianne!!" Selphie said through her crying as Irvine wrapped his arms around her, comforting her. 

The doctor came in to check up on her, and let her know about the surgery to fix up her crushed ribs. It went successful. Marianne nodded. "Are my mom and dad coming soon?" "They'll be here soon, yes." She smiled and shed happy tears, as Rinoa and Squall were reacting in the same way. Only Squall was much more quiet than Rinoa.

When Marianne's parents arrived, most of the group around her separated. "Let's go everyone." Squall said, as he stood. "She deserves some time alone with her parents." "Squall. Stay…please?" Marianne asked, never letting go of his hand. He nodded and stayed as the rest of the group had left. "Yo! Get well soon Marianne! Alright?" She snickered. _Zell's a laugh riot…_ "Bye…" she called out as the others said their goodbyes. 

Squall had stayed behind with Marianne to let her parents know about what happened with them during the past two and a half days. Marianne helped, letting them hear everything. In the end, Marianne embraced with her mom and dad, so happy to see them that she cried, and thanked them so much for the music, which comforted her and gave her hope in coming back. Marianne's father shook hands with Squall. "You're a good guy, Squall." he said. "She's a sweet person. She really is." Squall said, out of pure honesty. Directly from his heart. A little smile was shown on his face to the three of them.

Squall, and Marianne's parents stayed with her for a while, comforting her through the God awful pain she was experiencing, and kept on telling her that she'll be okay. Day by day, Squall, his pals, and other people Marianne recognized, besides her parents, came to see her. She had lots of gifts. Loads of get well cards, some balloons, a cute bear from Selphie, some snacks from Zell like he promised, including homemade cookies from Edea! Rinoa gave her another cute stuffed animal (and she has lots of those already, back home in her room). Irvine found a tiny shark's tooth from Calvert Beach and gave it to her. Selphie found a box to put it in, so the tooth was from her too. Seifer? Well, he got her a get well card, and found some of the books Marianne was looking for (he told her that he got the info from her mom while he went with "Chicken Wuss" and her parents to a book sale). One of those Dinoverse books which Marianne always kept forgetting the author's last name. And books two and three of the Sixth Sense series. "Found them myself," Seifer said. "Thanks. You're pretty cool when not hangin' with the wrong crowd." Marianne commented as the two let out a chuckle.

So the books from Seifer got her occupied, and read them whenever she had time to herself. Slowly, her surgery healed, the bandage was removed from her head, and the bruises were fading slowly too. In a week or two of resting and relaxation, she was able to sit up afterwards.

"Hey, done reading those already?" Squall said, as he walked alone into her hospital room after the second week of Marianne's time in the hospital. He came to visit her everyday. Her mom and dad did the same. But for now, it was just him. "Yeah, are my folks being good to you?" Marianne teased. Her parents offered Squall and a few of his friends to stay over at her house, while the rest were assisted to the Prince Frederick Holiday Inn, not far from the hospital at all. Just a few blocks down the road.

"Yeah, they're nice people, Marianne. Oh, and your cats miss you." he said. "I know they do," she cooed as Squall sat in the chair by her bed. Yes, they were starting to really develop feelings for one another now. After a crazy long ass couple of days in a strange planet with evil robots, Squall and Marianne had become much closer. What about Rinoa? She didn't stay single for long. Seifer and her got back together.

Squall had one hand behind his back as Marianne giggled. "What are you hiding?" "Nothing." Squall smiled as he set down a magazine, and two envelopes onto her lap. Marianne pressed a button to make the bed rise as she looked at the envelopes first. "One from my favorite aunt and uncle…" she said as she saw the names Laura and Chris Cook on one of them. She ripped the top open to see a Get Well card. It was one of those cards where it's blank inside and you have to write a note or something or else it's just a picture. The front cover made Marianne go, "AWWWW!" Squall looked with her. It was a kitten dressed up in the blue medic clothing with a stethoscope around its neck. "Hehehe, that's so cute." she giggled. Squall smiled at her, saying, "Well? Aren't you going to look inside?" She laughed, gave him a playful shove on the shoulder, and read the message out loud.

"_Marianne,_

You are all over the news now! You and your friend Squall. That's why we are writing to you. I'm so relieved that you're okay and we're planning to visit you sometime this month. I don't know when, because of our jobs… Maybe the end of this month, when Christopher comes over. We love you and hope to see you soon! Get well!

Love,

Aunt Laura and Uncle Chris"

"Hey, my cousin might come to see me too!" she said excitedly. "It's been a while since I've seen him. I'll have to ask him how he's been." She looked up from the card to Squall, with a frown. "I hope he didn't get into trouble. The last time I heard about him was that he dropped out of high school." "That doesn't sound good…" Squall said, feeling a bit of sympathy for her cousin. "Now to check out Father Daly's letter." Marianne announced and opened the envelope in the same way.

Before she read it, she looked up at him, the smile vanishing a little bit. "Squall… do you have nightmares about what happened?" "Yeah. Sometimes…" he said, looking down for a moment. "So do I. It can be hard to sleep at times…" she said, and decided to read this next letter silently. Of course Squall asked on what the letter said. "Father Daly basically writes about wishing he could be here, and that God be with me to heal. He thanks God for you too." Squall showed a little grin, as Marianne smiled back, laying back on the bed. "I'll look at the mag later." she told him, and as she just let it lay in her lap.

The two held hands again. "I remember Cleo's wishes for both of us," Marianne added. "Yeah…" was all he could reply. "I'll take care of you." A tear fell down her face as she smiled happily. "Really?" The two embraced.

That's when Zell came dancing into the room, wearing headphones and holding Marianne's walkman in one hand. He looked like he was having a _real_ good time. She couldn't help but laugh as she watched him dance and sing along to the CD he listened to. "Did you know me…? Or were you too preoccupied by playing king in your small kingdom?" he sang, which she sang along with him for the rest of the verse of a Hoobastank song. "And now the real world… Has stripped you of your royalty. And from your kingdom, you're evicted!"

Zell smirked in that mischievous way and let the headphones hang around his neck. He was staying with Squall and Quistis at Marianne's house. "Dude, I love your music collection!" Zell said, and turned down the volume a little bit. "Me too. I never bought a CD I didn't like." she giggled. Squall just smiled at the two of them, letting them chat.

"Yo, how you feelin' Marianne?"

"I'm good. I can sit up now. Watch!" With that she effortlessly sat all the way up on the bed as Zell beamed.

"That's great! You'll be out soon then."

"Yup. So, how's it goin' back at home? Stayin' outta trouble?"

"Yeah, I help out a little. I miss my T-Board sometimes though."

"I know a skateboard isn't the same as one, but, maybe you can make one yourself in the future."

"That's what I plan to do, and customize it."

"Cool."

The two hugged, happy to see each other. "It's always cool to see you dude," Marianne said, as they did a cool handshake. _Marianne was right. Zell's becoming best friends with her so quickly_, thought Squall as he watched the two interact. "Yo Squall! Sup?" Zell said. They did the same hand thing. Zell then turned up the volume. "Aw man, I love this song!" She heard the words and sang along with him. "Is it me? Is it you? Nothing that I can do. To make you, change your mind…"

"Yeah, I like that song a lot too. Hey Zell, did you listen to The Reason yet? It's Hoobastank's newest album. It's in my room, on the TV."

"No, not yet. I will though sometime today. I'm just getting into these guys."

"Cool." Marianne smiled, showing her teeth a little.

Zell noticed the books piled on top of the other on the table beside her bed. Marianne looked too. "Yeah, I finished all three of them. I remember not being able to put the first Sixth Sense book down!"

And Marianne also asked about her cats. "They're doing good. Peppy's been choking some lately. Your dad's getting concerned. Don't know what's wrong." Zell said. "They're always in your room." "They must miss me lots." Marianne suspected, smiling. Zell returned the expression with a smile of his own. His tattoo showed to her. "About that tattoo, did it hurt?" Marianne wondered. "Like a bitch it did!" Zell laughed as she did so along with him.


	9. Quality Time With Friends

Chapter 9: Quality Time with Friends

The two stayed for a long while, small chit chat. Rinoa came in the room by noon. "Hey! I got you some lunch. The hospital food must be awful for you." "Cool. Mickey D's!" Marianne smiled as Rinoa handed her the bag. A double cheeseburger and fries, with a medium Coke. "Thanks Rinoa," she smiled, as Rinoa smiled as brightly and asked how she was feeling. "I'm getting there. Should be out of here soon." Marianne told her.

Marianne shared her fries with Squall, as the two girls talked. 

"How's everyone at the Holiday Inn?"

"They're doing just fine. We're always thinking about you. Seifer wants to know if you enjoyed the books…"

"Oh, tell him thanks a bunch for them. I've been searching forever. I finished reading them all, whenever I got bored, or when I couldn't sleep."

"I'll let him know!" Rinoa smiled and patted her arm. 

Rinoa turned to Squall smiling. "How've you been?" She asked Zell the same. "I'm cool." Zell. Squall replied, "I'm fine. Quistis is fine, back at her house with Marianne's mom." "Oh, and when you're all done…" Rinoa turned to Marianne, and pulled out some nail polish from her bag. "Cool!" she chirped, thinking it was indeed really cool to spend some girl time with her. 

This surprised her, but Marianne never knew Rinoa and her would really bond. I guess she had forgotten of how sweet she was. Rinoa smiled sweetly in between her and Squall. She seemed very happy for the both of them. "Yo, Marianne! Can I have a few of those fries?" Zell asked as she let him take a few. Never wiping that cute smile off of her face. Squall admired that smile. 

After Marianne had finished her burger, she had enough fries, and let Zell have the rest. "Woohoo!" Zell beamed, causing the others to laugh. "You're such a food maniac." Marianne joked as Zell nearly choked on a fry in his mouth as he laughed too. "Which ?" Rinoa asked, showing her the few small bottles of nail polish. "Hmm… Sky blue, with the silver glitter stuff on top." Marianne picked as Rinoa opened the sky blue shiny polish first. Her three friends smiled down at her. Rinoa sat on the side of the bed, with Zell sitting next to her, snacking on the last of the fries. Rinoa started to paint Marianne's right little finger as she, Marianne, and Zell chatted. Squall sort of joined in, but was mostly quiet and just listened.

****

Rinoa: "Still having those nightmares sometimes?"

****

Marianne: "Yeah. I mean, what Squall and I went through… It was like a trip to Hell and back!"

****

Zell: "I hear you man!"

****

Marianne: "Squall has the nightmares too… We were both pretty terrified of that Blade Slater dude."

****

Squall: "Yeah…"

****

Marianne: "One of the scariest experiences of my life."

****

Rinoa: "Well, it's over."

****

Marianne: "Yeah, basically."

Rinoa had painted the middle finger of Marianne's right hand by now with the sky blue nail polish. "Well, Slater's probably just a big junk heap now," Zell assured Marianne. "At least he won't be after the two of you anytime soon." "What a psycho… The bot even destroyed its own creators within the superior intelligence." Marianne commented about the bulky red robot Squall and her battled against over two weeks ago. "Mad scientist psycho," Zell agreed. "Squall, you said he wanted to experiment on you two." Marianne shivered a little, which caused Rinoa to pause before painting all five fingernails on her left hand. "He was most interested in the reproduction process. Oh hell no. I SO did not want to go through that." she said. "Squall, surely you didn't want to be forced into... You know… And I only believe in that kind of thing after marriage." The other three looked at Squall, who shook his head and answered her question. "No way. That's just torture!" "Amen," Marianne agreed. 

Rinoa quivered a bit too, letting the thought sink in. "How horrible that would have been!" "Let's move on," Marianne suggested, after a moment of silence. 

****

Marianne: "This blue stuff is NICE!"

****

Rinoa: "Yeah! I think I'll put some on too, with the silver, not the glitter, but make a pattern on my hands."

Zell laughed. "Isn't it cute Squall? Girls and makeovers?" The two guys laughed. Rinoa and Marianne laughed with them. "It's a girl thing. We can't help it!" Marianne teased, sticking her tongue out at him. Zell laughed some more in reaction. Rinoa saw Marianne stick out her tongue and giggled. When Rinoa was all done with Marianne, it was vice versa. Marianne began painting Rinoa's nails in return. "My tuuuurn!" Marianne said, causing them all to laugh. The chit chat continued as Marianne painted Rinoa's nails…

****

Zell: "Hey, we should throw a party or something when Marianne's all better."

****

Marianne: "Hey yeah!"

****

Rinoa: "That's a great idea!"

****

Squall: "…That sounds cool…"

****

Marianne: "Why not do so at the St. John Vianney Parish Center? There's big space for a small crowd to dance and party at."

****

Zell: "Cool! Alright…"

****

Squall: "You know Calvert County better than us anyway."

When Marianne was all done with Rinoa's nails, she asked, "How do they look?" Rinoa smiled. "Good." she said. Zell made a face as Marianne returned it. The two were acting like children. Squall shook his head, smiling as Rinoa laughed. 

Soon, Marianne announced that she was feeling a little sleepy, signaling that their time had to come to an end. Rinoa was the first to go. "Thanks for lunch and everything. It was fun! Oh, and don't forget that message to Seifer!" "I won't forget sweetie," Rinoa cooed as the two hugged each other goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I'll bring Seifer along." "Cool."

Rinoa hugged her one last time, and waved goodbye, slowly exiting the room. Marianne watched her go. Then she turned to hug Zell goodbye. "Thanks for the laughs, and the tunes." she giggled as Zell gave a few good pats on the back. "I'll drop by again soon. Get well. Rest up. We love ya girl." Zell replied, smiling as they released. "Byeeee!" Marianne chirped in a high pitched voice (just like Selphie). Zell laughed. "Later!" He began to hit the play button for the Hoobastank self titled album to play again on her walkman as he showed off his funky dance moves before leaving the room. Marianne clapped, laughed and cheered. "Woohoo! Get down wit ya bad self!" she laughed towards Zell, who stopped and laughed too, waving goodbye, making her laugh by the way he slid across the floor. It would have been hysterical if he crashed into someone or something, but Marianne wasn't that lucky this time.

Squall couldn't help but laugh too. They looked into each others eyes for a moment. "I guess it's my cue to leave too," he said, standing up out of his seat. "I guess," Marianne said. She sat up, wrapping her arms around him for the longest time. "I never got to thank you for everything when I was still… you know." Squall hugged her back, not saying anything, letting her kind and gentle words seep right into him. It was clear that he really liked her now. "I hope the nightmares won't come anymore…" she said. "But I just got a feeling that they'll be hanging around for a while." They released as Squall moved some of her hair back from her face. She smiled softly, as he returned the expression the same way. "You're just something special," he said. 

After a slight pause of small affection, he said, "Get some rest." "Do me a favor and take those books home for me, will ya? I'll just hang onto my mail to look over for later." Squall nodded. "Sure. I don't mind at all." He gathered up the Dinoverse and Sixth Sense books into his hands. "I'll see you later." he said, sounding really promising. "Bye…" Marianne said, smiling. Squall stopped at the doorway to take one last look at her. _She really looks a little better_, he observed, and flashed Marianne a smile. She did a cute little wave to him as his grin never faded. He watched her close her eyes, then left the room. Marianne opened her eyes back up for a second, realizing again what was going on. She sort of frowned, afraid of getting heartbroken. Would Squall even do that?

She laid down comfortably on her hospital bed, her eyes open, just thinking about Squall. She knew there was a definite thing between them now, but how long was it going to last? The sad thing was, for the past seven or eight years of living in her world, she was hurt from mostly guys who were really dorks to her in the end. Not like in nerds, but more on the jerk side. _Nah, Squall wouldn't be that way. He was never like that to me really._ _ Why am I troubled by it? Is it because of the last time I was "in love?" But that wasn't even real. It was a net relationship, but still… Squall seems as like that Andrew coward from Greece who used to be just as sweet… That's why I'm bothered about it. I'll tell him tomorrow. Alone. It'll be our secret… It's just something stupid I did. I'm over it. I've been over him._

Marianne looked up at the ceiling, just before yawning. She let her thoughts finish first before going to sleep. _I've been over that Andrew jerk for over two years now. He never met me in person, like Squall did. That's the big difference. Still, I'm a little nervous and afraid of it happening. I don't want to go through life with a shattered heart all over again. That would be hell… _

No bad dreams haunted her as she slept, besides, they only came by at night…


	10. Confirmed Devotion

****

Here it is folks! The final chapter! Many thanks goes to the reviews I've read, and thanks in advance to future reviews from people. 

Chapter 10: Confirmed Devotion

Marianne's mom and dad visited her for the evening, and she told about the time spent with Squall, Zell, Rinoa. "Did you get any rest today?" Marianne's dad asked in concern. "Yeah, I took a nap a couple hours earlier." she said. "I'll be out of here in a few more days, says the doctor." Marianne wondered it her cats were being funny, as always. "Zell was playing with them today, and Angel bumped into Peppy." said her mother, Linda. Marianne chuckled. Dad began teasing her about Zell raiding through her CDs and she said she didn't mind and told her parents about Zell when he left her hospital room. "Zell's a bright guy. " she said. Her dad smiled in agreement. "Squall visits me at every chance he gets too," Marianne added. "So you, Zell, and Squall must be really good friends now." said Linda. "Yeah, and Rinoa too! We painted each other's nails! See?" Marianne told her mom happily and showed her what Rinoa did. "She brought me lunch from McDonald's too, so that was a nice break from the hospital stuff."

Her dad, Thomas, gave her a box of candy to snack on, as her mom asked if she looked at this month's issue of Game Informer. "I looked through some of it…" she said. There was an awkward silence. "Hey, what are the odds of that happening again?" Marianne's father assured her. "Yeah, but it would be cool if it happened with the characters of Final Fantasy Seven. I wouldn't mind meeting Cloud, and Red-thirteen, and Cid, and Tifa, and Cait Sith too! Under a friendly circumstance, not what I went through with Squall." Her parents definitely agreed on that. They remembered the trauma she had when Squall and her told them everything the whole time being on that planet where Cleo was.

Squall eventually came back. "Ooooh! You're _BOYFRIEND_ is here!" Thomas teased as Marianne giggled bashfully. "Dad…" she groaned as her mom and dad laughed. "We'll see you again tomorrow." Linda said as she and her daughter embraced, smiling. Her dad did the same, and let her keep that box of Dots. 

After they left, Squall sat down in the chair, Marianne sitting up on the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked her. "I'm doing A-okay…" she said, and paused, and smiled. The nervousness was boiling inside of her. Sure this guy was from a video game, but she looked past that, knowing he was just as human as she was.

When Marianne was sure they were both alone, she took a deep breath. "Squall, we need to talk…" Squall noticed her face become serious. "What is it?" he asked in concern. "It's about…us… There's just something I want to get off my chest, and don't worry. It's nothing to make you angry this time." "…Okay." Squall said in hesitation, and was all ears. "I'm… a little nervous and scared about what's going on between us." she began to admit. "The truth is I'm afraid of getting my heart broken again." "…Again?" Squall repeated. "In the past seven or eight years, my heart was being toyed with most of the time. With other guys. I know you're not like them at all, but there is this one guy I sort of knew…and it's just something stupid that is just best kept between us. I think my mom and dad are just best off not knowing, even though I'm over him. I'm over it like it sort of never happened."

Squall just nodded, respecting her intentions. "Just don't tell anyone about this, okay?" Marianne persisted in a gentle tone of voice. "I won't tell anyone…" Squall said, in his own honest way. Marianne instantly believed him. 

She began to tell about her internet relationship a couple years ago. About a guy who was the same age as her, who typed to her online from Greece. He fell "in love" with her and she stupidly fell for him too, being thick headed and stubborn as she ignored what advice was given to her about that kind of thing. She told him the whole truth, and honestly admitted she thought Andrew was the one. He acted so sweet to her for a long while. She so wanted to meet him in person one day, but Andrew was afraid, and thought it was just online and nothing else, but she didn't want it to go like that. And she also told him about the time when her ex was away for a few months and never heard from him until October of that year. Things changed after her over reaction of having the feeling Andrew had abandoned her. 

"At first I was just letting go, until this one other guy I've just been friends with told me to not give up. I thought it over, and wondered, 'Does it really have to be this way?' So I tried making things right, but we were slowly drifting apart. I was really hurt, even though he never meant to in the first place. I was in a six month long depression, and eventually I just let him go. This one song called 'In the End' by a group called Linkin Park knocked some sense into me. Without that song, it probably would have taken me a little longer to finally let him go…"

Marianne fell silent for a moment, observing Squall's reaction. He looked into her eyes, not letting her break eye contact. "My heart is easy to break…" she said, letting the tears go on down her face. Squall gently wiped one away with his thumb. Marianne wanted to look away now, but Squall looked so deep into her that she just blinked, but never took his eyes off of her. "I know it wasn't not as real as this, but still…" "Marianne…" Squall called to her in a gentle and concerned voice. "I'd never…ever…hurt you, in any way. Ever. I wouldn't even think of breaking your heart." She breathed in and out shakily, not believing this. "I don't know why I care so much about you. You're just a very special, and sweet person." She touched his hand, which rested on her left cheek.

"Whoever this Andrew was, all I can say was he didn't know any better at all." "I was young and stupid anyway." Marianne said, giving an excuse. "I knew he really cared about me at a time…" "But not enough." Squall said, finishing her sentence. "He was probably the first one that cared about you like that, right?" She nodded slowly, letting the tears flow on by. "Look at me, Marianne," Squall said, as she looked into those blue eyes, as the sun was setting. "I want you to know that I… I like you. I'm fond of you and you mean so much to me." This made Marianne's heart melt, and her vision blurred. "You're just this sweet, sweet person. A light, a candle in my life…" Squall continued, letting her know all the way on how he felt. "We both know I've changed so much recently. You helped me see through the darkness of who I used to be. I admit I was a jerk to all my friends. Even to you. Now I don't want to hide from anything, anymore." "I'm your light, huh?" She said, feeling so overwhelmed by what he was saying. "Yeah," he said. "You really are the light in my life." "For once, you surprised me." Marianne told him. "I didn't know there was a poetic side to you." He smiled. "I now know for sure. I was only a little nervous at first, but now I know for sure." she sobbed as he hugged her, holding her close to him.

"So, this cowardly Andrew wasn't poetic, was he?" Squall said, half joking. "No, he wasn't… Plus it wasn't even close to this. Not at all. Hell, I'm not even friends with him anymore." They released. "I just didn't want to hear from him anymore. I blocked his email address." Marianne explained to Squall. "I didn't feel like I could just be friends, and just wanted to forget about him. And he was more concerned about himself than me in the end." "What a scumbag…" Squall commented as Marianne leaned on him. 

"I could never imagine anyone acting like that towards you. You're really friendly towards other people."

"Uh huh…"

"I wish… I just wish I could step up to that jerk and give him a piece of my mind."

The room was getting darker, as Squall turned on the lamp beside Marianne's hospital bed. "He wouldn't know how sweet you really are. He wouldn't know, from being on the other side of a computer screen." he continued. "It's alright Squall. I'm pretty much over him. It only bothered me when I noticed how close we are right now." Marianne assured him, rotating herself to sit on the side of the bed. "I just learned the long and hard way to not do something stupid like that again." "Yeah, I can tell you know better." Squall said. "A few times some other people tried to fall for me, but I just told them that I wasn't going to make that mistake again. There was this one weirdo from Egypt. That's another continent. I thought he was cool, and I was about to ask him what it was like there until he said some crap like, 'Show me the way to your heart!' I told him to forget about it, because I'd have to have most of my brain cells gone to go into another net relationship again." This caused Squall to laugh. "That's right. You're too smart to fall for that again." "Yup," Marianne agreed. Then it just went into sort of ramble, but Squall didn't mind.

"You have no idea. On Earth, quite a number of people look degrading when signing onto the internet. It's…appalling. There was this one dude who hacked into my instant message things for the gayest reason, and it sometimes just makes me laugh."

"…What was the reason?"

"He didn't like my display name, which wasn't really offending people at all. It was just this joke thing between me and some of my friends, and he got worked up over it. Geez… Sure I was angry for a while at first, but I was able to get most of my friends' email contacts back, except for one, which I miss hearing from once in a while. I couldn't ever get back into my old account, because that fag changed everything. My password, zip code, everything. And that, is the most gayest hacker I've ever encountered."

"Eh, sorry…" Marianne said to him, bashfully. "Didn't mean to get carried away. Just a ramble." "It's alright. " Squall assured her, arms around her. He smiled, showing her he wasn't bothered by it or anything. She smiled back, wondering what to say next. She couldn't think up anything. She just felt so special in his presence. "Hmm… I wonder if I can stand…" Marianne wondered out of the blue. "Want to find out?" Squall asked her. She nodded as he slowly helped her to stand. Success. "Yay." she said happily as Squall let her stand on her own. "It's good to stretch the legs." she said, as Squall smiled. She laughed and embraced him, letting her eyes close and drift off. She felt lighter, as if standing on a cloud.

Marianne looked at him directly and beamed, "You're like an angel… Heh, I have one extra guardian angel. A special one. I'm serious. I feel like you are heaven sent." "Maybe I am," Squall said to her softly, his sweet smile never fading. She then slowly sat back down on the bed, with Squall sitting on the chair in front of her. Close to her. 

It seemed to be if they would live happily ever after. Only time would tell. The future ahead for these two, and those they loved were unknown. 

Oh well. They didn't care. Squall and Marianne were just happy to be together that night. And tomorrow would be another day for them to share together, with Rinoa, Zell, Seifer, Edea, Quistis, Marianne's parents, and many others. 

What about Squaresoft? Will they be sued? Will Marianne ever get a chance to meet her favorite FF7 characters in person? Is Squall really her true love? It seems like that. Will Zell build his own T-Board? Will the team ever part their own ways? It didn't look like it would be happening anytime soon. Will Cleo ever call upon Marianne and Squall back to the planet if it was in trouble again? Would she and Squall ever see it again? Is this really how it all ends…?

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED IN A SEQUEL…


End file.
